The Keira dynasty were the rulers of the Sultanate of Darfur from the seventeenth century to 1916. Originally the Keira clan were perhaps regional rulers in the Tunjur state, with Sulayman traditionally seen as the founder of the Darfur state. The monarchy was suspended after the Egyptian conquest of the region in 1874, but was revived as a de facto independent state in 1898 after the defeat of the Mahdiyah. The Keira dynasty finally ended in 1916 when the British annexed Darfur to the Sudan.